From Etrade to IB, back to Etrade?

Discussion in 'Interactive Brokers' started by igum, Feb 18, 2006.

  1. igum

    igum

    Hi,
    I tried to switch from Etrade to IB, but now realize IB is not good when you trade a medium-high amount of shares. The commision for 3000 shares at $30 is $180 (90000*.005, but .002% max limit) whereas at powerEtrade it'd be $10. Is that right $180 commisions for just 3000 shares?

    Anyone else agree with this?

    IB with QT does have quite a bit better performance/speed than powerEtrade, but that commision hit for moderate # of shares may not be worth it, since QT with IB also doesn't have conditional orders anyway, the only thing I lose when using etrade is a bit of speed.

    Anyone can recommend other brokerage/software combinations?
     
  2. Where did you come up with the 90000 number. The commish at IB is based on per share. I think the commish is more like $15.
     
  3. Ebo

    Ebo

    If you left e*terd and go back, you should seriously consider another career. I bet you never even funded an account.

    3,000 X 0.005 = $15 Einstein!
     
  4. you're kidding right.

    the .2% is the max commission they will charge you. this only comes into play with low priced shares with share price*number of shares*.2%< .005*number of shares...if it's not, commission is .005* number of shares.
     
  5. If he uses IB's unbundled commissions, and he either offers liquidity on his trade, or he does enough monthly volume, then his commission can be even less than $15, perhaps even less than E-trade's, perhaps even a lot less.
     
  6. you can't even get those imbeciles at Etard on the phone in less than 30 minutes these days.

    If you ever have a trade problem you're screwed.
     
  7. birdman

    birdman

    please explain how unbundled commissions work

    i trade 10k minimum blocks and sometimes up to 30k and never hold overnight

    how will it work for me
    30k xs .005 = $150 per side
     
  8. zdreg

    zdreg


    what do you do for a living?
     
  9. igum

    igum

    Ok, maybe the commission are not that bad, but IB with QT has bad backfills on the charts. Sometimes I get no data on the chart, even after trying to manually backfill. Never had that problem with PowerEtrade.
     
  10. siki13

    siki13

    I bet you think real hard to come up with that bogus reason
    "Hmm why did i leave IB if not for high commissions,it must be something?"
     
    #10     Feb 19, 2006